A Carnet de Passage is a customs document for your vehicle which enables you to enter and exit countries more easily. A Carnet is an internationally recognised Customs document entitling the holder to temporarily import a vehicle into countries. Without the Carnet, it can be a real hassle to try and import/export the vehicle from one country to the next. There is a cost for the Carnet as well as an indemnity deposit which needs to be posted. The indemnity deposit is to ensure the country which issues the Carnet that the vehicle will in fact be returned to that country. The indemnity deposit is affected by a number of factors - see the tables below. In South Africa, the Carnet de Passage is only available through the Automobile Association of South Africa.
Since we are not permanent residents of SA or neighbouring countries, we immediatly were required to post an indemnity deposit of 100% of the vehicle value! We found a way around this. We were able to have the Carnet issued in a friend's name who is a citizen of SA along with an authorization letter giving us permission to use his Carnet. This way we had to only pay an indemnity deposit of R500. Our vehicle value, duration of validity and distance travelled was also within the R500 indemnity deposit parameters.
On the Carnet application you must state the start and end date for the validity of the Carnet. Since a number of countries do not require a Carnet, we planned the shortest possible time for which we would need the Carnet. Each time you enter a country requiring a Carnet, a page is required. For our initial planned route, we only needed the Carnet for Zambia, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Tanzania and Kenya. Countries that did not require a Carnet include SA, Namibia, Botswana, Mozambique, Lesotho and Swaziland.
For the route all the way through Africa, the Carnet needs to include further countries/pages. Adding pages is usually not a problem, however, adding Egypt poses a problem. A 100% indemnity deposit must be made for Egypt, regardless of all other factors. We have not solved this issue, but will post our solution once we've figured it out. Travelers out there - has anyone gone through Egypt without a Carnet?
Cost of Carnet:
| 0 - 3 months | 3 - 6 months | 6 - 9 months | 9 - 12 months | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 Page | R1350 | R1550 | R1600 | R1800 |
| 10 Page | R1550 | R1800 | R1850 | R1980 |
| 25 Page | n/a | n/a | n/a | R2300 |
Indemnity Deposit (Value of Vehicle):
| Up to R170,000 | Over R170,000 | Over R400,000 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Deposit | R500 | 10% of vehicle value | 100% of vehicle value |
Indemnity Deposit (Duration):
| Less than 6 months | Less than 12 months | Greater than 12 months | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Deposit | R500 | R6000 | 100% of vehicle value |
Indemnity Deposit (Distance Travelled):
| Up to Kenya | Beyond Kenya | Other Continents | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Deposit | R500 | R6000 | R20,000 |
Indemnity Deposit (Resident of SA, Namibia, Botswana, Swaziland or Lesotho):
| YES | NO | |
|---|---|---|
| Deposit | R500 | 100% of vehicle value |